Dany

This morning I am randomly annoyed. I don’t know why it’s in my head but I’m mentally writing arguments about why Daenerys is not a bad queen. I’ve seen that theory going around since “A Dance With Dragons.” Some people are like “Gee, I hope she never gets to Westeros now.”

I’m not even much of a Dany fan but I feel like defending her. It’s weird.

See, I don’t think any of the kings or queens in the series have everything quite figured out yet and that includes Dany. But I feel like characters like her and Robb are further along on the road than some others. Robb’s big failing was that he lost control of his lords.

I think Dany is in a situation similar to Stannis, just after he lost the Blackwater. Stannis neglected the opinions of his supporters during those days. He depended on Davos and Melisandre alone. I think Davos tried but was out of his depth. He couldn’t win the highborn to Stannis no matter how he tried. He’s not perfect. Stannis isn’t perfect. Dany isn’t perfect.

It seems to me that governing a country is a team effort. The King or Queen is the leader, but they depend on the other people to balance out their weaknesses. Both Stannis and Dany don’t really have enough players on their side. (Barristan Selmy, like Davos, is trustworthy but he can’t do everything, nor should he.) The real test will be who she trusts and who she doesn’t. Everyone is coming to her, after all. Some of these people she needs to put to work.

We know from “A Clash of Kings” that Tyrion can be useful getting the ugly stuff done behind the scenes. But he’ll never be a popular figure that leads his own army. Nor is he a warrior. Someone else would have to be the general. Basically, she needs a small council.

Ned says at the beginning of the series that “the King dreams and the Hand builds.” Dany’s dreams are good (unlike, say, Joffrey’s) but she doesn’t have the builders yet.